1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a joint connector obtained by overlapping a plurality of connector housings having a uniform shape in plural stages. More particularly, the present invention relates to a joint connector which can prevent a tab from being deformed at a time of combination and can previously detect a combination error.
2. Description of the Related Art
As one example of a branching connector for branching a wire, there has been proposed a joint connector in which a plurality of connector housings having a uniform shape are overlapped with each other in plural stages so as to be combined (not prior art). On a surface 101a of the connector housing 101 constituting the joint connector mentioned above, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, a front engaging member 102, a rear engaging member 103, a front lock member 104 and a front surface rear lock member 105 are provided. On the contrary, on a back surface 101b, a front engaging member inserting hole 106 into which the front engaging member 102 is inserted, a rear engaging member inserting hole 107 into which the rear engaging member 103 is inserted, and a back surface rear lock member 108 engaged with the front surface rear lock member 105 are formed.
In order to combine both of the connector housings 101 and 101, as shown in FIG. 1, a back surface 101b of another connector housing 101 is opposed to and overlapped with the surface 101a of one connector housing 101. Then, as shown in FIG. 2, from a temporarily placed state before being combined, the connector housings 101 and 101 are combined so as to be held between an upper connector combining member 109 and a lower connector combining member 110.
The temporarily placed state before being combined corresponds to a state that the front lock member 104 comes into contact with a temporarily engaged surface 112 formed in a lower end of a front lock member engaging hole 111 for inserting and engaging the front lock member 104 as shown in FIG. 2, and in a rear portion thereof, as shown in FIG. 3, a connector temporarily engaged surface 108a on the back surface rear lock member 108 comes into contact with a connector temporarily engaged surface 105a on the front surface rear lock member 105.
When both of the connector housings 101 and 101 are combined from the temporarily placed state, the front engaging member 102 is inserted into the front engaging member inserting hole 106, and the rear engaging member 103 is inserted into the rear engaging member inserting hole 107, so that both of the connector housings 101 and 101 are positioned without being shaky in a longitudinal direction and a vertical direction.
Further, in front of the connector housing 101, the front lock member 104 is inserted into and engaged with the front lock member engaging hole 111, so that the housing front portion is locked. At the back of the connector housing 101, respective hook portions of the front surface rear lock member 105 are engaged with the back surface rear lock member 108, so that the housing rear portion is locked. Accordingly, both of the connector housings 101 and 101 keep a combined state without being separated from each other in a combining direction.
However, since heights between a front contact lock portion (a portion in which the front lock member 104 comes into contact with the temporarily engaged surface 112) and a rear contact lock portion (a portion in which the connector temporarily engaged surfaces 105a and 108a of the front surface rear lock member 105 and the back surface rear lock member 108 come into contact with each other) are different from each other, the connector housing 101 overlapped above is inclined forward as shown in FIG. 2.
Accordingly, when it is intended to combine both of the connector housings 101 and 101, there is a case that an unnatural contact is generated in the connected portion, a damage is generated in the combined portion or an incomplete combination of both of the connector housings is generated.
Further, as shown in FIG. 4, a tab inserting hole 114 extending a tab 113 of a terminal through a terminal receiving chamber 115 is formed on the back surface 101b in the connector housing 101. However, in the temporarily placed state shown in FIG. 2, a front end of the tab 113 has a certain distance L with respect to an opposite housing, and is in a state that the front end of the tab 113 is not inserted into the tab inserting hole 114.
Accordingly, when both of the connector housings 101 and 101 are combined with each other, there is a case that the tab 113 is not inserted into the tab inserting hole 114, so that the tab 113 is crushed and deformed. In particular, in the case that the connector housing 101 is largely inclined as shown in FIG. 2, the tab 113 is further hard to be received by the tab inserting hole 114. When the tab 113 is deformed without being inserted into the tab inserting hole 114, the tab 113 is held between the overlapping surfaces of the housings, so as to generate a combination error, so that an electric conduction between the upper and lower terminals cannot be achieved.
The present invention has been achieved in order to solve the problems mentioned above, and an object of the present invention is to provide a joint connector which can prevent a tab from being deformed at a time of being combined and can previously detect a combination error.
The first aspect of the invention provides a joint connector comprising: a plurality of terminals; a terminal receiving chamber in which the terminals are received and arranged; and a connector housing having the terminal receiving chamber in which a plurality of terminals are received and arranged, wherein the joint connector is constructed by combining a plurality of the connector housings having a uniform shape in plural stages so that the terminal receiving chamber side is set to a front surface, an opposite side is set to a back surface, and the back surface is overlapped with the front surface, wherein a front engaging member, a combining projection portion formed in the front engaging member, a rear engaging member, a front lock member and a front surface rear lock member are provided on the front surface, and a front engaging member inserting hole into which the front engaging member is inserted, a combining projection portion fitting hole to which the combining projection portion is fitted, a rear engaging member inserting hole into which the rear engaging member is inserted, a back surface rear lock member engaged with the front surface rear lock member and a tab inserting hole extending a tab formed in the terminal through the terminal receiving chamber are provided on the back surface, and wherein the combining projection portion is formed so that a part thereof is overlapped with the combining projection portion fitting hole, connector temporarily engaging surfaces are respectively formed in the front surface rear lock member and the back surface rear lock member, and in a temporarily placed state before the connector housings are combined, the combining projection portion comes into contact with an opening peripheral edge portion of the combining projection portion fitting hole and the respective connector temporarily engaged surfaces of the front surface rear lock member and the back surface rear lock member come into contact therewith, whereby each of the combined connector housings keeps a parallel state, and at least a front end of the tab is inserted into the tab inserting hole.
According to the first aspect of the invention, since in a temporarily placed state before the connector housings are combined, the combining projection portion comes into contact with an opening peripheral edge portion of the combining projection portion fitting hole, and the respective connector temporarily engaged surfaces of the front surface rear lock member and the back surface rear lock member come into contact therewith, so that each of the combined connector housings keeps a parallel state, and at least a front end of the tab is inserted into the tab inserting hole. Therefore, the front tab is smoothly inserted into the tab inserting hole without coming into contact with the opening peripheral edge portion of the tab inserting hole when the connector housings are going to be combined with each other from this parallel state.
The second aspect of the invention provides a joint connector according to the first aspect of the invention, wherein there is provided with a combination error detecting mechanism for detecting that the above overlapped connector housing is inclined, so as to generate a combination error in the case that the front end of the tab is previously bent in the temporarily placed state.
According to the second aspect of the invention, since there is provided with a combination error detecting mechanism for detecting that the above overlapped connector housing is inclined, so as to generate a combination error, in the case that the front end of the tab is previously bent, it is possible to recognize a combination error before combining.